Check "Hide Thought Bubbles"
Same thing as the speech bubbles, turn everything off

Next you can go to the "Graphics" tab of Settings

Don't let the world know how bad your video card is.
Since you want to get the best quality photo possible, turn up your graphics settings to the maximum. You won't care how smooth the gameplay is as long as you get the shot.

Don't forget about the Tilt Shift efffect!
Play around with the Tilt Shift setting to see what you prefer. You can get some cool views by turning it up. I practically forgot it was there since I normally turn it down when playing the game.

I find that the tilt-shift effect works best when viewing down at an angle. By slightly changing your focal point, the buildings on the edges will blur. It can give your image a nice three dimensional feel to it. Using tilt-shift during night shots can give a nice glow to the city lights as well.

My entry for best Tropical City, used a heavy Tilt-Shift effect

Anti-aliasing
If you'd like a crisper look to your photos, uncheck anti-aliasing. Leaving it checked will soften the edges of the buildings.

Image Filters
Use an image filter to make your shot more interesting. There's 21different image filters to choose from. I compiled a full set of examples for both day and night. You can view them in the gallery below. To get a better look, click on the photo and view the full size versions in the Picasa web album.

Avoid the Trolls
Shhhh.... Dont' tell anyone I told you this: When taking a screen capture with the UI on, make sure that you're showing a profit by temporarily raising taxes. If you don't, you WILL have a Bigger Map troll say something about your city not making any money even though you're making millions off of electronics or whatever else you have.

This screenshot of mine won for Most Polluted City

The Timeline of changes in sunlight and moonlight

The display of the sun and moon changes at the top of every hour. Knowing the timing of the rising and setting of the sun and moon can give you opportunities to make interesting looking screenshots and videos by including them in your photo.

5:00am Sunlight makes it's first appearance of the day5:00-6:00am The Sunrise hour. Although the sun is not above the horizon, you can get a nice golden hue off off the sunlight..6:00am The sun rises above the horizon and yet is low enough to be included in screenshots of the skyline.7:00am The sun rises too high to be seen.Middle of the day, you'll see the shadows change at the top of every hour6:00-9:00pm Sunset: As the sun sets during this three hour window you can get some interesting views of your city as it prepares for night time.9:00pm The lights turn on, but sunlight is still visible.10:00pm Darkness falls upon the city and the nighttime lights look the brightest12:00 Midnight The moon rises.3:00-4:00am The moon is at it's lowest point in the sky.4:00am The moon sets

In summary:

Golden Hues: Sunrise 5:00-6:00am, Sunset 6:00-9:00pm.

Include the sun in your shot: 6:00-7:00am

Lights with sunlight still visible 9:00-10:00pm

Darkness with Lights on 10:00pm-5:00am

Include the moon in your shot: Midnight-4:00am with the best opportunity being 3:00-4:00am

Brightness
If you're using the Film Noir, Black and Red, or other filter with a lot of black, don't forget about the Brightness Setting. You can turn it down for a darker look. Some of the filters make things too dark, and you can lighten them up with the brightness setting as well.

Try it Out!

Don't be afraid to take lots of pictures. To make a screen capture, just hit "C" on your keyboard. On windows 7, they get saved in Documents/SimCity/Pictures. It's nice to have a record of what things looked like over time. You can use them to enter the SimCity Bulid the Best Contests, share with your friends, or even use as a desktop wallpaper. You never know when one will come in handy. I got the most likes on a screenshot that was in the "Community Bridge/Tunnel Gallery 2" but it was one that I just happened to take while I was playing the game.

Give yourself lots of options
Try out lots of options. My winning "Spooky" shot of the cathedral on a hill was one I had tried multiple things on. In the end, it was my first shot that I ended up choosing. The cathedral was turned off because I didn't have money to run it. Unbeknownst to me there were orange tinted lights internal to the cathedral which turn on when the cathedral is turned off. The photos with the cathedral turned on and the entire city built out did not look nearly as spooky as the original. You can see my various attempts from roughly the same angle in the gallery below.

Although they say that you can email your photos to SimCityCommunity@ea.com, I would advise against it. Members of the SimNationGuild have had much greater success by tweeting them to @SimCity with the hastag of #SimCityBTB. Don't have a twitter account? Get one. They're free. UPDATE: My new advice is to submit both ways, tweet them AND email them. I haven't gotten a retweet the last two contests, and my submission via twitter was originally ignored. After posting my photo in the comments in a contest, they added it, and I went on to win.

Get your entry submitted by the end of the day on thursday after they announce the theme. Better yet, make sure you make it in time by submitting it on wednesday.

Your chances of getting noticed, and a retweet are better when sending your tweet during the day. I originally submitted my winning screenshot at about 2am on a thursday. I didn't get a retweet on it by @SimCity so I sent another tweet at noon on friday and it was retweeted within seconds.

To have a great shot at winning, join the SimNation Guild on Facebook. Our members tend to vote for each other. For bonus points, send your tweet with the #SimNationGuild hashtag as well.

The winner is announced a full week after the selections have been posted. Usually on saturday. UPDATE: The winner of the Academy City contest was announced several days after the finalists were selected. It was not a full week.

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